The Man Who Fell to Earth

The Man Who Fell to Earth is a daring exploration of science fiction as an art form. The story of an alien who crash lands on Earth as part of an elaborate rescue mission, only to be seduced by the decadence of our world, provides the launching pad for Nicolas Roeg’s visual tour de force, a trippy, formally adventurous examination of alienation in contemporary life. Rock legend David Bowie, in his acting debut, completely embodies the title role (“one could say, without irony, this was a role he was born to play,” enthused film critic Roger Ebert), while Candy Clark, Buck Henry, and Rip Torn turn in pitch-perfect supporting performances. The film’s mind-blowing, hallucinatory vision was obscured in the 1976 American theatrical release, which deleted nearly twenty minutes of crucial scenes and details. This beautiful 4K restoration of The Man Who Fell to Earth contains Roeg’s full, uncut version of the film, bringing this singular sci-fi masterpiece back to its original glory as “the most intellectually provocative genre film of the 1970s (Time Out Film Guide). (Dir. by Nicholas Roeg, 1976, UK, 140 mins., Rated R)